We removed most of the dairy from our diet a couple of years ago. It was one of the best things we ever did.
I'm always on the look-out for ideas on how to make the usual dairy based yummy foods without dairy. There are some really GREAT recipes out there...and some really bad ones too ;-) Over the past year I have been experimenting a lot with cashews, and during that time I have discovered how wonderful they are when it comes to making creamy dishes/sauces that would normally include a lot of dairy. I do have to attribute a lot of my success to my Vitamix. It gets my concoctions super creamy and smooth. I'm not sure a regular blender of food processor could do the same. (Just more reason to invest in a Vitamix. If you know me, you know that I ADORE my Vitamix!!! I bought it 8 years ago and have used it almost every single day since then. It's such a great investment! I will save this topic for a future post.)
I've included a couple of my cashew based recipes on previous posts: "Nacho Uncheese" and "Garlic Uncheese Dip/Sauce". Since then, I've tried a couple of other combos that have been equally delicious. I'm not the best at measuring things when I cook, so unfortunately, I don't have specific amounts of the ingredients that went into each one, but I'll give you the a rough idea of what I did, and you can play around with the ingredients to see what works for you. The base is always 1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 3 hours...then I build from there.
Chocolate Pudding: 1 cup soaked cashews, about 1 tbsp cocoa (preferably raw, but it doesn't have to be), honey or agave to taste, pinch of salt, filtered water. Start by blending everything in the Vitamix (on high) with some water...then keep adding water (little by little) until it blends easily. Adjust cocoa and honey/agave to taste. The final consistency is pudding-like...and so delicious. I think it tastes just like chocolate pudding!!!
Pumpkin Pudding: 1 cup soaked cashews, approx. 1/2 can of pumpkin (you can add more if you'd like), water, pinch of salt, honey or agave nectar, cinnamon, nutmeg...all to taste. Start by blending everything in the Vitamix (on high) with some water...then keep adding water (little by little) until it blends easily. Adjust seasonings and honey/agave to taste. The final consistency is pudding-like.
* and of course, try to get as many organic ingredients as possible :-)
Both my kiddos LOVED these puddings. I love the fact that they're getting a treat that they enjoy AND that nourishes their body at the same time.
Peace!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Healthy Pita Ideas
Someone on one of the eGroups I'm a part of was asking for healthy snack/lunch ideas the other day. I responded with some ideas and received a lot of positive feedback. So, I thought I'd share my response with you guys. Here it is:
We love pitas in our house! Ezekiel makes the best pita out there, in my opinion :-) They call it "Prophet's Pocket Bread". It's primarily whole wheat (organic), but it also has carrots (as the second ingredient!), millet flour, lentil flour, spelt flour, etc. It's not very good cold, but it's really good when you throw it in the toaster over for a couple of minutes. Another reason I like this pita is because it doesn't fall apart like other pitas tend to do. It's a wonderful product! You'll find it in the frozen section with the other frozen Ezekiel breads.
We fill our pitas with everything. Here are a few of our favorite combos:
- hummus, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, cucumber (or any combo of the four)
- hummus, olives, red onions, tomatoes, jarred or fresh red bell peppers, and feta
- hummus, avocado, shredded carrots, spinach, olives, raisins, peas, walnuts (inspired by the All Raw rap at Spiral Diner)
- hummus, sliced hard boiled eggs, and avocado
- refried beans, avocado/guac, salsa
- kim chi with avocado
- bananas or apples with almond butter, raisins, shredded coconut, cinnamon, and honey
We try to avoid eating cheese most of the time, but every once in a while we'll buy some raw cheese and sprinkle it on a pita with marinara/pizza sauce on top...and pile it with veggies (chopped baby spinach is easy). Throw it in the toaster oven for a few minutes, and you've got a healthy, and very delicious, mini pizza.
If you don't want to make your own hummus, which is super easy, you can buy a big tub of organic hummus at Costco for around $5.
Amy
We love pitas in our house! Ezekiel makes the best pita out there, in my opinion :-) They call it "Prophet's Pocket Bread". It's primarily whole wheat (organic), but it also has carrots (as the second ingredient!), millet flour, lentil flour, spelt flour, etc. It's not very good cold, but it's really good when you throw it in the toaster over for a couple of minutes. Another reason I like this pita is because it doesn't fall apart like other pitas tend to do. It's a wonderful product! You'll find it in the frozen section with the other frozen Ezekiel breads.
We fill our pitas with everything. Here are a few of our favorite combos:
- hummus, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, cucumber (or any combo of the four)
- hummus, olives, red onions, tomatoes, jarred or fresh red bell peppers, and feta
- hummus, avocado, shredded carrots, spinach, olives, raisins, peas, walnuts (inspired by the All Raw rap at Spiral Diner)
- hummus, sliced hard boiled eggs, and avocado
- refried beans, avocado/guac, salsa
- kim chi with avocado
- bananas or apples with almond butter, raisins, shredded coconut, cinnamon, and honey
We try to avoid eating cheese most of the time, but every once in a while we'll buy some raw cheese and sprinkle it on a pita with marinara/pizza sauce on top...and pile it with veggies (chopped baby spinach is easy). Throw it in the toaster oven for a few minutes, and you've got a healthy, and very delicious, mini pizza.
If you don't want to make your own hummus, which is super easy, you can buy a big tub of organic hummus at Costco for around $5.
Amy
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Garlic Un-Cheese Dip/Sauce
I threw this combo together this morning, and it turned out so yummy!
approx 1 cup raw cashews (soaked)
garlic chives (regular chives would probably work)
garlic powder
salt
water
Blend everything in the Vitamix. A food processor or regular blender would probably work...you just may not get a silky smooth texture.
All ingredients are to taste and texture. I ended up using a lot more chives than I thought I would. Add just a little bit of water at first and then keep adding little by little...don't add too much or it will be too runny. The texture I ended up with was a queso/thick cheese sauce like texture.
It's so simple...yet so delicious! For lunch today, I dipped raw veggies in it and made a "white pizza"...even though the sauce has a tint of green to it...it still tasted like a white pizza. It was super easy to make; I just took an Ezekiel pita, spread on the sauce, topped it with minced chard and chopped tomatoes...then threw it in the toaster oven for a few minutes. It was AMAZING! Vance (my 2 yr old) gobbled it up too.
The sauce would also be a great replacement for hollandaise or alfredo sauce if you made it a little runnier.
Enjoy!!!!
Amy
approx 1 cup raw cashews (soaked)
garlic chives (regular chives would probably work)
garlic powder
salt
water
Blend everything in the Vitamix. A food processor or regular blender would probably work...you just may not get a silky smooth texture.
All ingredients are to taste and texture. I ended up using a lot more chives than I thought I would. Add just a little bit of water at first and then keep adding little by little...don't add too much or it will be too runny. The texture I ended up with was a queso/thick cheese sauce like texture.
It's so simple...yet so delicious! For lunch today, I dipped raw veggies in it and made a "white pizza"...even though the sauce has a tint of green to it...it still tasted like a white pizza. It was super easy to make; I just took an Ezekiel pita, spread on the sauce, topped it with minced chard and chopped tomatoes...then threw it in the toaster oven for a few minutes. It was AMAZING! Vance (my 2 yr old) gobbled it up too.
The sauce would also be a great replacement for hollandaise or alfredo sauce if you made it a little runnier.
Enjoy!!!!
Amy
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sheer Naturals Live Demo on July 29th!
Hello everyone. One of my previous posts was about a new natural mineral make-up that I've fallen in love with...Sheer Naturals. Well, there is going to be a live demo of the products and opportunities to schedule 30 minute make-over sessions at my chiropractors office (Lomonaco Family Chiropractic) this Wed. Carrie (the owner and creator) will be at the office all day doing the make-overs and demoing the products. You don't have to be a patient to participate. Their number is 972-966-1600 and are located in Highland Village. Call if you're interested in stopping by. Here is the the note from the office:
We are introducing a natural mineral makeup line that is made here locally! Drop in to see the products and meet the creator, Carrie Strimel. Preview her line at mysheernaturals.com. While you're here, enter to win a drawing for a gift basket valued at $100.00!
WHEN: Wed. July, 29th
TIME: *10:00am - 5:00pm
WHERE: Lomonaco Family Chiropractic office
*Makeover appts. are being scheduled for the afternoon.There is no fee for the appointment. Products will be available for purchasing. You must contact us at the office for an appt. Please call soon as the appointment times are filling up quickly! Have a beautiful day!
We are introducing a natural mineral makeup line that is made here locally! Drop in to see the products and meet the creator, Carrie Strimel. Preview her line at mysheernaturals.com. While you're here, enter to win a drawing for a gift basket valued at $100.00!
WHEN: Wed. July, 29th
TIME: *10:00am - 5:00pm
WHERE: Lomonaco Family Chiropractic office
*Makeover appts. are being scheduled for the afternoon.There is no fee for the appointment. Products will be available for purchasing. You must contact us at the office for an appt. Please call soon as the appointment times are filling up quickly! Have a beautiful day!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wonderful Mineral Make-up
Hello all! It's been a few weeks since my last post...so sorry...life has been a bit crazy. I've started teaching around 7 yoga classes a week, so it's thrown our family balance off a little. We've spent the last month adjusting, and I think I'm finally coming up for air! I actually had time to sweep AND mop my floors today...a HUGE accomplishment in my world :-) I love love love teaching my yoga classes, so it's all good....change is good. Again, just adjusting to a new normal.
Ok, so on to the topic at hand, mineral make-up. Let me start by saying that for the past 4 years or so, I've been on a quest to find a make-up that works well with my skin, provides a nice variety of colors, AND (most importantly) is non-toxic. For those of you who do not know that the normal make-up and beauty products we put on are skin are toxic, start researching - http://www.ewg.org/ is a great place to start. You will be floored when you learn how toxic most of the ingredients in beauty products are...and how poorly/loosely regulated the entire beauty product industry is. The more you research, the more you will learn that this industry and it's regulating bodies do not have the customers' best interest as their first priority. Did you know that up to 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream??? Know what you are putting on your skin!
Now, for the fun stuff. After many years of looking for and trying different non-toxic make-ups, I think I've finally found a real winner. It's called Sheer Naturals. It is a mineral make-up, and I have fallen in love. Let me explain.
It's a very small company owned and operated by Carrie Hudson, who lives in Texas (I believe right outside the DFW area). All of the make-up is made by her! I've tried all kinds of mineral make-ups (Bare Minerals, miessence, Neutrogena, etc), and I have to say that Sheer Naturals is the best I've tried so far. All of the others have either not been a good color match, haven't offered enough variety in terms of colors, have had questionable ingredients, and/or have been a bit cakey. Sheer Naturals, on the other hand, has a wide variety of colors in foundation, eye shadow, blush, concealer, etc...and they are non-toxic. I was so surprised when I received the samples Carrie sent me, after I had requested them. There had to have been at least 20 of them, and I tried them all. I ended up with perfectly matched foundation, blush, and a few eye colors. I was even able to find a mineral concealer/brighter to finally replace my Bobbi Brown cream concealer that I had continued to use because I couldn't find a safer alternative that matched my skin...YAY! I also LOVE the "plum shimmer" eye shadow...so pretty and natural looking with a little sparkle. Perfect for summer!
Anyway, I highly suggest everyone check the products out. The prices are very reasonable, and because Carrie will send you samples to try before you buy, it's a no-risk purchase. Plus, you are supporting a local small business who is making a product with a conscience. This is so important, in my opinion.
Here is the Sheer Naturals website: www.mysheernaturals.com
Love to everyone!
Ok, so on to the topic at hand, mineral make-up. Let me start by saying that for the past 4 years or so, I've been on a quest to find a make-up that works well with my skin, provides a nice variety of colors, AND (most importantly) is non-toxic. For those of you who do not know that the normal make-up and beauty products we put on are skin are toxic, start researching - http://www.ewg.org/ is a great place to start. You will be floored when you learn how toxic most of the ingredients in beauty products are...and how poorly/loosely regulated the entire beauty product industry is. The more you research, the more you will learn that this industry and it's regulating bodies do not have the customers' best interest as their first priority. Did you know that up to 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream??? Know what you are putting on your skin!
Now, for the fun stuff. After many years of looking for and trying different non-toxic make-ups, I think I've finally found a real winner. It's called Sheer Naturals. It is a mineral make-up, and I have fallen in love. Let me explain.
It's a very small company owned and operated by Carrie Hudson, who lives in Texas (I believe right outside the DFW area). All of the make-up is made by her! I've tried all kinds of mineral make-ups (Bare Minerals, miessence, Neutrogena, etc), and I have to say that Sheer Naturals is the best I've tried so far. All of the others have either not been a good color match, haven't offered enough variety in terms of colors, have had questionable ingredients, and/or have been a bit cakey. Sheer Naturals, on the other hand, has a wide variety of colors in foundation, eye shadow, blush, concealer, etc...and they are non-toxic. I was so surprised when I received the samples Carrie sent me, after I had requested them. There had to have been at least 20 of them, and I tried them all. I ended up with perfectly matched foundation, blush, and a few eye colors. I was even able to find a mineral concealer/brighter to finally replace my Bobbi Brown cream concealer that I had continued to use because I couldn't find a safer alternative that matched my skin...YAY! I also LOVE the "plum shimmer" eye shadow...so pretty and natural looking with a little sparkle. Perfect for summer!
Anyway, I highly suggest everyone check the products out. The prices are very reasonable, and because Carrie will send you samples to try before you buy, it's a no-risk purchase. Plus, you are supporting a local small business who is making a product with a conscience. This is so important, in my opinion.
Here is the Sheer Naturals website: www.mysheernaturals.com
Love to everyone!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Paper Towel Challenge UPDATE
It's been a couple of weeks since we started using our cloth (flannel) napkins, and I just have to take a moment to reiterate how much we are loving them! The size is so perfect, and I love the fact that they are flannel...so soft and very absorbent. I haven't even come close to using all of the ones I bought yet because after our meals I usually just wet the used ones in the sink (if they have any food on them); rub in a littel dish soap; rinse in warm/hot water; squeeze dry, and hang them on my dish rack to air dry. The whole process takes under a minute. They dry so quickly, and actually we don't mind using them a little moist when it comes to the kiddos...they feel and function a lot like a disposable wet wipe.
I've also been using them to wrap up Ethan's "wraps" in his lunch.
So, in case you aren't ready to invest in a large quantity of napkins, start with 20 and see how you like them...it's only a $25 investment.
We and future generations will all benefit from being more mindful about the amount of trash we create on a daily basis :-)
I've also been using them to wrap up Ethan's "wraps" in his lunch.
So, in case you aren't ready to invest in a large quantity of napkins, start with 20 and see how you like them...it's only a $25 investment.
We and future generations will all benefit from being more mindful about the amount of trash we create on a daily basis :-)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Paper Towel Challenge
In honor of Earth Day last week we decided to go "paper towel-less". I decided to scour Etsy to see if I could find some handmade cloth paper towels that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. BTW, if you're not familiar with Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/), you MUST check it out. It is a wonderful source for anything handmade (most of it very high quality)...and they carry antiques as well. What I really love about Etsy is that everything is sold by individuals, so you are directly supporting artists/seamstresses/collectors with no middle-man...you can even shop locally. Many of the sellers are stay-at-home-moms, and of course I love to support that "cause", since I'm one of them ;-)
Ok, so back to the napkins. I ended up finding a shop/seamstress/mom that sold handmade flannel napkins (8" x 8") for approx. $1 a napkin. She had lots of patterns to choose from. Her recommendation was to have 10 napkins per per person in the family...that was minimum, which would mean I needed at least 40. I ended up buying around 50, I think...in all kinds of patterns (fun patterns for the boys and a cute striped pattern for occasions when we have friends and family over).
She also makes/sells cloth sandwich bags and snack bags, which I also bought a few of. We already use cloth sandwich bags, but they've seen better days, so I thought I'd buy a couple more since hers were so cute and inexpensive. The sandwich bags are wonderful too....bought a few of those as well!
My total bill was around $70, including shipping. I know that sounds like a lot, but considering the money I'm going to be saving on paper towels and plastic baggies in the future, it's totally worth it. I consider it an investment that will help our pocket book AND Mother Earth.
We've been LOVING the napkins and haven't had much an urge to pull out the paper towels. We've also been using them in place of small plates to put toast, sandwich's, fruit, and whatever else on, which we often used paper towels for...because I didn't want to dirty another plate. (For cleaning the counters and stuff, we use cheap wash cloths that I buy at target...$2.99 for 8.)
Here is the website for the "gnomeclothes", where I bought my napkins: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5491749
Here is a picture of a few of the patterns I bought...we keep them in a big bowl on our kitchen table. We all have fun picking out their napkins at meal time.
So here is my challenge to you. If you are not at a point to get rid of the paper towels in your house, then at least try re-using them as much as possible and/or try to incorporate cloth rags/napkins into your lifestyle a little bit at a time. It's a lot easier than you think...and the fabric napkins are SO MUCH more fun than boring white paper towels. Don't we all need a little more cheer in our day? :-)
Love to everyone! Have a wonderful day!
Ok, so back to the napkins. I ended up finding a shop/seamstress/mom that sold handmade flannel napkins (8" x 8") for approx. $1 a napkin. She had lots of patterns to choose from. Her recommendation was to have 10 napkins per per person in the family...that was minimum, which would mean I needed at least 40. I ended up buying around 50, I think...in all kinds of patterns (fun patterns for the boys and a cute striped pattern for occasions when we have friends and family over).
She also makes/sells cloth sandwich bags and snack bags, which I also bought a few of. We already use cloth sandwich bags, but they've seen better days, so I thought I'd buy a couple more since hers were so cute and inexpensive. The sandwich bags are wonderful too....bought a few of those as well!
My total bill was around $70, including shipping. I know that sounds like a lot, but considering the money I'm going to be saving on paper towels and plastic baggies in the future, it's totally worth it. I consider it an investment that will help our pocket book AND Mother Earth.
We've been LOVING the napkins and haven't had much an urge to pull out the paper towels. We've also been using them in place of small plates to put toast, sandwich's, fruit, and whatever else on, which we often used paper towels for...because I didn't want to dirty another plate. (For cleaning the counters and stuff, we use cheap wash cloths that I buy at target...$2.99 for 8.)
Here is the website for the "gnomeclothes", where I bought my napkins: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5491749
Here is a picture of a few of the patterns I bought...we keep them in a big bowl on our kitchen table. We all have fun picking out their napkins at meal time.
So here is my challenge to you. If you are not at a point to get rid of the paper towels in your house, then at least try re-using them as much as possible and/or try to incorporate cloth rags/napkins into your lifestyle a little bit at a time. It's a lot easier than you think...and the fabric napkins are SO MUCH more fun than boring white paper towels. Don't we all need a little more cheer in our day? :-)
Love to everyone! Have a wonderful day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
